The Great Rest (of the trip in the) West
Thirteen Month Summary - August 10, 2023
Difficult to summarize 13 months of fun and adventure!
It’s been a couple of months since we ended our 13 ½ month adventure. WOW! It may have made sense to write a summary right away, of course, but other events were in motion and just never got around to it. May be for the better as reflection usually comes with time, right?
It was an amazing adventure, as you can imagine. We tasted, shared, saw, touched, experienced, smelled, heard and did so much. We would recommend it to anyone. Though we had a general route planned out before we even pulled Lena out of our driveway on May 1, 2022, we still had many unplanned roads that presented themselves to us along the way. I’ve known folks who need to have their entire trip planned in detail. It relieves the anxiety or fear of not having a bed to sleep on any given day. That was certainly unrealistic for this long of a trip. And, though we did have a few places such as national park campgrounds booked far in advance so we had to get there in a timely manner, they were far and few between. There is a freedom that comes along with that – accepting a path as it presents itself. A fluidness and rhythm to explore, unhindered by schedules.
In the two months since, we’ve had friends and family ask an abundance of questions. Generally, we hear, “What was your favorite place?” or, “What are your top five places?” or, “What place would you go back to?” Every time, it’s been difficult to answer such a general question. Or the answer changes each time… Writing this blog was the best thing we could have done, though, because we’ve already stopped to ponder, “Where was it that we did such-and-such?” We kept a daily spreadsheet of everywhere we spent the night, mostly for our kids’ peace of mind, wondering where in North American their parents were. But now, we are quite thankful we did, if for nothing else than settling whose memory is the sharpest.
Total miles driven is 23,868. Our overall average temperature ended up being 68.71 – pretty close to our 70 degree goal!
Highlights? Hmmm. Our biggest takeaway is how much our faith in the goodness of humanity has been restored. Is that weird? Sure, the scenery was stunning, nature exposing all its beauty. But, after enduring the pandemic; political turmoil; divisive reporting of events in the media; climate change extremes, etc., it was refreshing to meet strangers willing to spend time talking – help us out, give us directions, feed us, and generally share time together, sharing life with a smile and a good story. Family and friends are who we are drawn to, but strangers fill in the gaps between and there are more of them than acquaintances. Now we have many new friends!
The natural world has a deep-seeded place in our souls. It is a different sort of refreshing experience. Sights of massive mountains, flowing waterfalls, and tiny mushrooms delight the soul evenly. We must have balance in all things – spiritual, physical and mental. Our connections to nature and humanity fill different buckets at different times. We have had all our buckets filled!
- Best place(s): all family and friends’ locales; and see “visit again” section.
- Worst place(s): can’t really think of any! Some places had too many bugs or colder weather or humid air, but they still offered great sights, etc.
- Would love to visit again: Maritimes in Canada (PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick); Quebec City; any National Park; and any Canada bakery.
- Most surprising: Spiral Tunnel (railroad) near Yoho National Park, BC, Canada; warm ocean water in Shediac, NB, Canada; short, free ferry crossings in Canada; Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory with its cemetery of defunct flavors featuring colorful, fun epitaphs; staying a night at a host Boondocker that had his own airfield and plane; Black Vultures in Everglades that like to peck at the rubber on cars; and national monuments are just as cool at national parks.
- New foods: Though we are not “foodies,” we did try local cuisine such as butter tarts, poutine and Nanaimo bars in Canada; lobster rolls in Canada and Maine; Key lime pie and alligator in Florida; BBQ and beignets in Louisiana; and chili in New Mexico.
- Challenges: Critters that bite with consequences! Maybe our fears were squelched a bit but wariness still remains with poisonous snakes, alligators, scorpions. Ticks were always on the list of “don’t wants” but apparently, according to one Floridian, chiggers are worse. Great… a new fear. Weather was a concern in hurricane and tornado form, though never materialized for us, thankfully.
- Best Adventure: Jasper, Banff, Yoho; Trip to Dry Tortugas National Park; all live music events; Bok Tower Gardens; most of the hikes we took; cave tours in Mammoth Caves and Carlsbad Caverns; and Rooster Cogburn’s Ostrich Ranch in Arizona.
- Worst Adventure: Getting Lena stuck in BC, Canada, on a logging road; and trying Spicy Dill Pickle ale at a brewery in Georgia.
- Glad we did it: The entire trip; holding a baby alligator; feeling the nibbling pedicure fish in Florida Keys; crossing the Rio Grande and visit Mexico, even for an afternoon; and the Musical Instrument Museum in Arizona.
- Wish we hadn’t done it: Dave’s gallbladder removal in El Paso, TX.
- Unfulfilled hopes: Seeing a moose; and unable to spend more time with family and friends.
Half month of June Summary
Speeding across the U.S. to homebase
Our average temperature for the first 12 days of June was 79 degrees. According to Google, we traveled 1692 miles; walked 17.7 miles; and visited 30 places.
June 12, 2023
Moving across states; campground neighbors; family & friends
Moving a bit faster than usual, trying to get home for a birthday party for a good friend, we zoomed through Minnesota and North Dakota. We enjoyed some exuberant campground neighbors in Fergus Falls, MN, who were clearly concerned about how rowdy their crowd was for us. This group sported ice fishing trailers – rather than your standard pull-behind trailer – which we’ve never seen before. These trailers use hydraulics to drop their structure all the way to the ground. We were told it requires minimum 17 inches of ice to be successful at parking for any sort of ice fishing and they had 6 individual holes within the structure for possible fishing adventures. 
This is on Dave’s bucket list – to do some ice fishing. By the end of the evening we were becoming buddies and should have asked to see the inside of their trailers – for future reference. We also discovered in this county campground that the North Country Trail runs right through the property. We walked a short distance just to say we did it – along the lake we were entertained by hundreds of dragonflies swooping through the air, hopefully eating all the mosquitoes! A beautiful encounter.
A night’s stay in Bismarck gave us the chance to have a story-filled visit from Dave’s former coworker, James, from Juneau days. Next night was near Medora, ND, and we stayed in a specialty campground, mainly equipped to handle horses as well as campers.
Then we moved into Big Sky Country – Montana. I’m not sure we’ve ever been through Montana in early June but it was beautifully green everywhere. We experienced a lively lightning storm that night near Custer. Then it was on to Bozeman, MT, where our youngest son lives. We spent a few days with Andrew, enjoying he and his group of friends.
One more night in Montana on our way west (it’s a big state!) at a little forest service campground we’ve been to several times. Had a nice chat with the hosts who’ve been moving from place to place seasonally for the last 7 years.
For our very last night on the road, after 13.5 months traveling, we stopped in Spokane Valley, WA, visiting another of Dave’s former coworkers, Jackie.
Had a great visit (lots of shop talk) with Jackie, Trevor and his parents over dinner.
Certainly aware we would be hitting some heavy traffic in the Seattle area, we were still a bit surprised it was as bad as it was. The entire trip we opted to avoid large cities whenever possible. Seattle-Tacoma area was unavoidable, unfortunately, but we made it to Bainbridge Island unscathed, and are now reacquainting ourselves with island life.
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June 2, 2023
Playing with Finley; more family and friend visits - delightful!
Passing through Minneapolis, we stopped and picked up an item Allison and Eric ordered from REI. Trying to get to Eau Claire, we soon decided our GPS is getting tired of us being on the road so long – it took us in a backwards direction which was all wrong. Good thing we have an excellent backup – Dave! 
Upon arriving in Eau Claire, received a little bit of a shy act from our grandson, Finley, but it didn’t take long before we were playing chase around the house with giggles from everyone. Other than 2-dimensional zoom calls, the last time we’d seen him was November – he’s grown so much! Birthday fun; playing in the backyard; going for walks; reading books; and just watching him grow and learn in the few days we were there was priceless and precious. Oh, and we purchased a small lot in Eau Claire with the hope of building a tiny home on it so we can have extended stays and more Finley time!
We detoured from Allison and Eric’s for a few days to Hartland (near Milwaukee) and Whitefish Bay to see more family – Becky’s Aunt Jean and cousins on her dad’s side – and friends from Bainbridge, Craig and Paige. We had a chance to tour Holy Hill, basilica and national shrine, near Hubertus, WI. It sits on the highest elevation in SW Wisconsin. An amazing sight to see. We were even able to climb the 178 steps to the top of one of the towers and peer at the 360-degree landscape around us. Just beautiful. We can only imagine what the view is like in fall with all the leaves turning. We stopped to walk a bit on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail in a couple different sections. 
Currently, there are 675 miles complete – expecting a 1,200-mile hiking trail when finished.
May Summary
Making a beeline from New Mexico to Eau Claire
Our average temperature for May was 73 degrees. 
According to Google, we traveled 1,985 miles; walked 61.5 miles; and visited 78 places and 33 cities. Our final full month on the road. Yes, we had a 12-month plan which has turned into 13.5 months. But that’s all part of the journey and adventure! May was filled with family and friend visits. So glad we could connect along the way!
May 21, 2023
Aurora to Eau Claire and family in between
Though sad to leave Evan and Kaitlyn’s, they were back at work and we were off to celebrate Finley’s first birthday in Eau Claire, WI! A lavender farm Harvest Host in Big Springs, NE; county campground in Grand Island, NE; and Chief White Crane campground in Yankton, SD, were our next stops on our way to more family visits. The lavender farm boasted a nice gift store; they even provided giant, delectable, fresh cinnamon rolls to us to enjoy with our coffee the next morning. A rare sighting of a baby owl was the highlight at the Grand Island stay – then serenaded by momma and baby owl talk that evening. The Yankton campground was beautiful with lots of tall trees around, though we did wake up to smoky air quality due to the Alberta, Canada, fires drifting smoke our way.
Becky’s cousin, Terra, in Castlewood, SD, is always a delight to visit and we enjoyed our 3-day stay tremendously. A great visit full of conversation and new family stories; touring the farm and seeing the baby calves and a new humongous tractor; touring the local area which had extensive tornado damage the prior year and is on the mend. Terra’s son, Jeff, and family have taken over most of the farming duties. While we were there, they were vaccinating the new little ones and, as the 56th calf in line suddenly jumped while administering the shot, Jeff received an unintended bovine vaccine in his finger. Yikes! Though we are disappointed not to be able to attend the family reunion scheduled for July (Becky’s mom’s family), we were happy to spend some time with Terra.
Steering toward Wisconsin, we had a stop at Plumeria Alpaca Farm in Glencoe, MN, a Harvest Host. A small herd of alpacas, lots of chickens, and a passionate owner of it all. Certainly beginning to feel the humidity level tick upwards being in Minnesota.
May 15, 2023
Colorado weather, family and friends, and the zoo
With one more night before we arrived at Evan & Kaitlyn’s in Colorado, Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton, NM, was the first rain shower we’ve experience in quite a while. We did get a walk in before the dark clouds dropped moisture that actually hit the ground. A little lightening, thunder and heavy droplets. Not a big deal except we did drive 1.5 miles up a gravel road to get to the campground. Always a nail biter in a front wheel drive, heavy vehicle, hoping the rain doesn’t damage the road for our way out in the morning.
On our way to Aurora the next day, heavy thunderstorms/hail was in the forecast for Denver area. We lingered a little at Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, hoping the storm would continue North. We missed a big hailstorm in Aurora but the rain stuck around. It reminded us of Pacific NW rain and we were assured it “never rains this much” in Aurora. Oops. Did we bring PNW flavor to Colorado? We arrived in time to become team members with the kids for a Thursday trivia contest at a local brewery. Placed second!
Our five days went by fast. A trip to the zoo; Mother’s Day; meeting with Leslie and Frosty (friends from the island that have relocated to Denver area) for coffee; adding a solar panel onto the roof of Lena; walks; playing with Kanga, their delightful cat – just a few things we did as part of our visit. We also took great delight in talking about and expecting a new grandbaby (due in September!). Kaitlyn is feeling great and looking fabulous, of course.
May 9, 2023
Wild Hogs filming, Santa Fe history and art, and cliff dwellings
Dave is the navigator. We rely on GPS to get us from one point to the next, but Dave prefers good old paper maps to see the big picture; steer us to secondary roads, off interstates whenever possible. That’s when he discovered Madrid, NM, near our final destination for the day of Santa Fe. A bit more investigation confirmed it was the Madrid portrayed in a fun movie called “Wild Hogs.” We easily and willingly fell into the tourist trap that Maggie’s Mainstreet Diner offered in this small town. In fact, we had added the movie to our tiny collection we brought with us.
Madrid is a delightful town but Maggie’s Diner is not a diner but a kitschy souvenir shop with a big sign capitalizing on the movie’s fame to draw folks in. A walk up and down the main street was fun, nonetheless.
Santa Fe also has a Worldmark where we spent 6 days walking around the historic district. Santa Fe, being the oldest capitol city in the U.S, has lots of history and art. The Capitol building self tour revealed its art and architecture for us. In the self-tour brochure, one “official state symbol” stood out: the state cookie – Biscochito. Had no idea there were such delicious state symbols but it sounded like a quest to search for one and taste it. It took us awhile, even with help from the lifelong resident we enlisted. Finally found it at a French bakery. Kind of a shortbread cookie with cinnamon, anise and some ingredient I couldn’t place.
Cinco de Mayo occurred while in Santa Fe and we enjoyed the afternoon chatting with fellow travelers, with Margaritas, chips and salsa within reach. That’s as party-hardy as we get! No parades or other types of fiesta celebrations that we could find.
We did lots of walking since we were close and there is a lack of parking for our rig just anywhere – to the plaza; historical buildings and churches; the Railyard artisan area where we found REI as well; along Santa Fe River; Cross of the Martyrs; and Canyon Rd Arts District.
We spent a day exploring Bandelier National Monument, about an hour away. Cliff dwellings created in the unique sandstone cliffs and the pueblo building remains at the base of them, were fabulous. We chatted with a backcountry ranger on the trail for a while – always a delight as Dave and Becky have both toyed with that career idea since childhood. Hopefully, someday we will be lucky enough to volunteer somewhere!
May 3, 2023
Following "The Ancient Way," an ice cave and petroglyphs
The start north. Our final blog section of this adventure. But certainly not our final adventure in our RV.
Along “The Ancient Way” route in Northwestern New Mexico, Bandera Crater and Ice Caves was an overnight Harvest Host. Near the Continental Divide, we were at 8,000 feet. 
Sounds cold but it was 80 degrees. Despite the heat, the Ice Cave, 72 stairs below ground level, was below freezing, and the 20-foot deep “Winter Lake” remains frozen year-round. Formed from lava flow, creating lava tubes, the unique shape of the geology and the insulating quality of the area allows the temperature to stay constant. We hiked to see Bandera Crater where the lava flowed from 10,000 years ago, ultimately forming the ice cave. While basking in the afternoon sun outside our RV, Dave alerted Becky to a snake slithering up the hill behind her chair, but he was kind enough to wait until it was clearly moving away, and noting it wasn’t a rattlesnake! While Becky lifted her feet off the ground (in case of other friends), Dave looked giddy and said, “Can I go take a picture of it?” While he followed the harmless 3-foot Bull Snake for the photo shoot, Becky kept her legs off the ground and googled bull snakes to calm her nerves.
The next morning, Becky went into the trading post, mentioning the snake sighting to the staff. “Oh, that’s our friend. We like bull snakes because they eat the mice, etc.” Then Becky spent the next 20 minutes hearing stories about snakes, other critters and lore of the area. Dave wondered why she was taking so long to use the restroom! It was a delightful visit overall.
A quick stop at the El Malpais (mal-pie-ees) National Monument visitor center and a couple hikes along the northern edge of the monument was all we had time for on our way to the Dancing Eagle Casino for our next overnight in Laguna, NM. No gambling for us, but decided the restaurant menu looked good. Becky asked how spicy the chili was and the waitress would only say, “Depends on the day,” described it as currently very spicy and, “a customer was quite upset earlier.” Though she didn’t order that chili, she still ended up with a very spicy stew, failing to ask the spice level question. Good thing they had lots of sour cream!
Petroglyph National Monument is just outside of Albuquerque, NM. The Boca Negra Canyon was a fun, rock scrambling sort of hike, with views of petroglyphs along the pathways. 
While eating lunch, we enjoyed watching, but shooing away, a brave squirrel looking for a handout; a roadrunner in search of a meal among the hillside; lizards trying to avoid becoming a meal; and a mother bird nesting in the shelter we were using to eat lunch.
Our night’s stay at Boondocker location, after a stop for ice cream, was delightful. Tony and Peggy have a blog/podcast/youtube presence online, stresslesscamping.com. We enjoyed sharing stories and travels on their back porch, watching the quail, rabbits and hummingbirds do their thing.
May-June 2023
Route 66, monuments galore, home
But there is still too much to see and marvel at, the world very much alive in the bright light and wind, exultant with the fever of spring, the delight of morning. Strolling on, it seems to me that the strangeness and wonder of existence are emphasized here, in the desert, by the comparative sparsity of the flora and fauna: life not crowded upon life as in other places but scattered abroad in spareness simplicity, with a generous gift of space for each herb and bush and tree, each stem of grass, so that the living organism stands out bold and brave and vivid against the lifeless sand and barren rock. ~Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, 1968
